


Duchess

by SamCyberCat



Category: Free!
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-13 05:58:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12977550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamCyberCat/pseuds/SamCyberCat
Summary: For as long as Gou could remember, cats had never liked Rin and that has always bothered Rin. She wants to help him with that somehow, but it might take some thinking outside of the box.





	Duchess

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Gou Week's first prompt – Family.

“It's not that they banned you from the cat cafe as such...” Gou said, though she already knew that her words would fall on deaf ears, “They just said that maybe you shouldn't come back for a while. That's definitely not the same.”

Rin glared dead ahead; “It might as well be the same though. I wasn't even doing anything! Cats just... hate me.”

“Come on, that's not true...” Gou soothed.

Although it was a half-hearted effort. Because the fact of the matter was that cats did seem to hate Rin. Ever since he'd been little, Rin had always adored cats equally as much as cats didn't seem to adore him. And Gou felt like she could kind of see why, even though it'd hurt Rin's feelings to say so. Rin was a very passionate person – he threw his feelings around forcefully. That was something cats didn't take well to. Cats like to do everything at their own pace and give people a respectful distance. Cats generally preferred quiet moments of occasional affection, as opposed to being showered with it full-on all the time. Rin was, sadly, exactly the wrong sort of person for cats to get along with. He was probably more naturally designed to be a dog person. But in true Rin fashion, he'd decided that the animal which he struggled with the most was his favourite.

Gou had hoped that the cat cafe might calm him down enough to understand where his shortcomings in the cat departments were coming from a bit better. But it had turned out to be a bust.

“Maybe you just weren't suited to the particular kinds of cats they had at that cafe,” Gou tried.

“There was a sign in the window that said they did lessons for people who are scared of cats. The cats there were as tolerant as they come,” Rin argued.

“Okay, but... they're not the only kind of cats. What about maine coons? Those are known for being a lot more openly affectionate,” said Gou.

“Yeah and more expensive than the two of us make in a year,” Rin said, with a sigh, “Let's face it. The whole thing is doomed. I am to live a catless life...”

It was hard to see Rin like this. When he felt down, he did so with as much energy as he poured into everything else in his life. Rin was just... far too devoted and passionate. If only Gou had some way to explain that to a cat. She'd give Rin a glowing report. She'd tell any cat that would listen about how Rin would adore it beyond the stars and give it the best of cat treats, groom it every day, show all of his friends many, many photos of his beloved pet cat. But cats just... don't understand. And they definitely don't understand Rin.

All the same, Gou hated letting her brother down. When they got home, Rin headed off to his room, completely disheartened, and their mother didn't dare ask how the trip went. She already knew.

Gou went to her own room and flopped down onto the bed, staring angrily up at the ceiling. What could she do? What could she possibly do short of hypnotising a cat? It just seemed like there was nothing...

She rolled onto her side and looked over at her desk, which was neatly packed with all of the charts and notes she'd made to help the swim team that she was coaching at work. Behind the charts were tubes full of pencils and other supplies. But then behind all of those was something that Gou hadn't seen or thought about for a long time.

A stray piece of fabric stuck out. It had been from her very short-lived attempt at sewing. Her mother had tried to teach her, but Gou just didn't pick it up and got frustrated with it quickly. She'd kept telling Mom that she'd get back to it sometime, but quietly never did. The fabric had remained as a formless lump, while the rest of Gou's life filled up the desk and pushed it to the back.

But now she was seeing it and she saw that it could be... something. Gou sat up and went to it, pulling out out from between the writing supplies that had held it hostage for so long. Several pieces of fabric were all clumped together, along with tangled string and a needle hanging precariously from the end of the string. She noted that the colours were all wrong and the fabric was even smudged in places, but it would wash. It could be fixed.

And Gou was the person who was going to fix it. She could ask for help from Mom, but when it came down to it, Gou was just as stubborn as Rin. It was a Matsuoka trait. So she sat up all night, trying her best to sewing, with minimal understanding, a few buttons and the occasional glance at an online tutorial when she had to admit that she was in over her head.

But by the morning she had... something. She just wished that it looked more like a pedigree cat and less like one that had gotten into a fight with twelve other cats and lost. Also, the green thread didn't work that well with the orange fabric after all. It was a learning curb.

Perhaps she could try again. The next attempt would probably be better. But somehow she felt particularly attached to this one. This would be the cat that liked Rin.

She left it outside his bedroom door and then went to work. It was a Monday, after all, and she had a busy week ahead of her. With that in mind, perhaps she should've slept better last night. But if the cat made Rin happy, then it was worth staying up for.

She didn't see her brother again until after both of them had gotten home from their different jobs. By that point, Gou was pretty tired and barely able to keep her eyes open. She'd almost forgotten about the fabric cat until she'd sat down at the dinner table and was faced with Rin. He looked... embarrassed. It took her a moment to figure out why.

“Hey...” Gou sleepily greeted him.

“Yeah, hey...” mumbled Rin. He rubbed the back of his neck and then added, “So I found your gift. It was pretty good...”

Gou smiled; “Don't worry, you don't have to pretend if you don't like it. That was my first try. The next one will be better.”

“Nah, I like this one,” said Rin, as he took the cat out of his bag. He'd taken it to work with him; “And I think that... this one likes me. Still dunno what I'm gonna call her though. Any suggestions?”

“Let me think...” said Gou, as she stared at the cat once again.

Both of the cat's eyes were sewn on at slightly different levels and the button nose made her look almost more like a pig than a cat. But Rin liked her and she liked Rin. She was the first cat that liked Rin and that made her important.

“It's not very original, but let's call her Duchess... okay?” Gou suggested.

Rin seemed satisfied with that.

“Duchess it is,” he chimed, turning the plush cat to look back at him, “You're the best cat in the neighbourhood, Duchess, and I won't hear otherwise.”

Maybe Duchess wasn't... the same as what Rin wanted. Gou couldn't magically make a real cat feel differently about Rin. But she could make this cat and Rin seemed to like her just as much. So Gou deemed it as a success. Definitely worth all the work she'd put in. Though she knew that she'd be calling in for an early night tonight. Duchess was a lot of work.


End file.
